Todor Dinov () (24 July 1919 – 17 June 2004) was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

informally known as the ''Father of Bulgarian animation''. During his lifetime, he wrote and directed more than 40 short animated films and several live-action feature films, and was also a popular illustrator, children's book illustrator, painter, graphic artist, comics artist and caricaturist. Dinov was born to a Bulgarian family in Dedeagach in

Western Thrace Western Thrace or West Thrace (, '' ytikíThráki'' ), also known as Greek Thrace or Aegean Thrace, is a geographical and historical region of Greece, between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country; East Thrace, which lie ...

(today

Alexandroupoli Alexandroupolis (, ) or Alexandroupoli (, ) is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros (regional unit), Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Greek Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, with a population of 71,75 ...

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) and finished school in

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

, Bulgaria. He studied at the

Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, officially the S. A. Gerasimov All-Russian University of Cinematography (, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov''), a.k.a. VGIK, is a film school in Moscow, ...

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under the tutelage of distinguished

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

animators such as

Ivan Ivanov-Vano Ivan Petrovich Ivanov-Vano (; – 25 March 1987), born Ivanov, was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian animation director, animator, screenwriter, educator, professor at Gerasimov Institute of Cine ...

. Dinov created his own first animated film, ''Yunak Marko'' (English: ''Marko the Hero''), in 1955. Perhaps his best-known animated film in the West is the five-minute short ''Margaritka'' (English: ''The Daisy''), produced in 1965. The film features a square-shaped little man trying to cut down a daisy and failing, then becoming more and more enraged as he tries increasingly brutal methods against the flower; in the end, the daisy only responds to the love of a child. Oddly, ''Margaritka'' won a prize for best children's film even though it was meant for adults. In 1967 he was a member of the jury of the

5th Moscow International Film Festival The 5th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 5 to 20 July 1967. The Grand Prix was shared between the Soviet film '' The Journalist'', directed by Sergei Gerasimov and the Hungarian film ''Father'', directed by István Szabó. The f ...

. He founded the first animation studio in Bulgaria, setting the highest quality professional standards for producing animation in his country. Later, he created the Animation Department (now a separate major) and taught animation classes at the Theatre and Film Arts Institute. Dinov was also a member of the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; , ''Bŭlgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated БАН) is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy, with headquarters in Sofia, is autonomous and consists of a S ...

. In 1999, Dinov was awarded the highest-rank Bulgarian medal — the Stara Planina order (First Degree). In 2003 he received the Crystal Pyramide Award of the Bulgarian Filmmaker Union for lifetime achievement to the art of Bulgarian animation. He died in

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at the age of 84.

Filmography

The following are some of the animated films directed by Dinov. Titles have been transliteratred from Cyrillic to Latin, and are followed by their names in English where available: *''Yunak Marko'' ("Marko the Hero") (November 16, 1955) *''Prikazka za borovoto klonche'' ("Tale of the Pine Twig") (April 22, 1960) *''Gramootvodat'' ("Lightning Rod") (February 1, 1962) *''Yabalkata'' ("The Apple") (April 1, 1963) *''Revnost'' ("Jealousy") (September 25, 1963) *''Margaritka'' ("The Daisy") (July 24, 1965) *''Izgonen ot raya'' ("Banished from Eden") (March 27, 1967) *''Prometey'' ("Prometheus XX") (August 4, 1970) *''Tapanat'' ("The Kettle-Drum") (July 24, 1973) *''Malkoto Anche'' (July 24, 2000)

References

External links

Plovdiv Guide article on Dinov
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dinov, Todor 1919 births 2004 deaths People from Alexandroupolis Bulgarians from Western Thrace Bulgarian animators Bulgarian film directors Bulgarian animated film directors Bulgarian caricaturists Bulgarian comics artists 20th-century Bulgarian illustrators 21st-century Bulgarian illustrators Bulgarian children's book illustrators 21st-century Bulgarian painters Corresponding Members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni